Ormiston Bushfield Academy evolves with future-proof technology for the 21st century

Ormiston Bushfield Academy in Peterborough has implemented the Frog Learning Platform to help put school improvement at forefront of transformation plans

Since becoming an Academy in 2009, Ormiston Bushfield Academy in Peterborough, formerly Bushfield Community College, has stated its independence from the local authority and taken ICT matters into its own hands. A new-build planned for September 2012 will increase student capacity from 760 to 950 and future-proof technology will be central to its school improvement strategy. Ben Curtis, E-Learning Co-ordinator at Ormiston Bushfield Academy, discusses his role in ensuring the new build is equipped with the highest standard of technology and how the implementation of the Frog Learning Platform is proving to be instrumental in the Academy’s development plans.

Ormiston Bushfield Academy implemented the Frog Learning Platform in September 2010, and the ICT department, in collaboration with Frog’s support team, has been the driving force behind it. Putting educational improvement and technology at the forefront of everything the Academy does, the new build will be totally wireless, and through Frog, students will be able to access an abundance of ICT resources anytime and anywhere.

Future-proof for the 21st century
The Academy is looking beyond its current ICT needs to ensure that the investment it makes now will be sustainable for many years. Ben enthuses: “Our new build gives us a fresh opportunity to lay down the right ICT infrastructure to help us evolve and expand, and implement systems that will see us into the future as a 21st century school. We are aiming to make processes faster, more reliable and robust.

“Simple processes such as uploading files are much easier with Frog compared with previous learning platforms we have used because of the way it has been designed”, Ben continues. “Our aim is for anyone at any one time to have access to a computer and go online to complete their work, whether that be on a laptop, ipad or PC.”

Doing things our way
“Being an Academy, we can control our own budget to do the things our way, and Frog helps us achieve this by giving us the flexibility to develop our learning platform to suit our bespoke needs”, says Ben. The school’s previous learning platform was chosen by the Local Authority which rolled it out to all schools in the area, whereas Frog is housed in the Academy’s own server room, allowing the school complete control over it. Ben continues: “Frog is not at all prescriptive. On the contrary, it provides a set of tools which allow us to do what we want. It also integrates with other tools, apps and web services, such as our Management Information System (MIS), so we don’t have to export spreadsheets from one system to another. When a new student or member of staff joins the Academy, they are added to our MIS which automatically updates Frog, creating them an account which integrates with our Active Directory all through a single login, meaning no duplication occurs.”

Saving time and money
The Academy is saving money in a number of ways, as Ben explains: “Our weekly staff bulletin is no longer printed out and placed in pigeon holes. It is now produced using Frog and emails are sent to staff to notify them that the bulletin is available online. Morning briefings for staff are no longer documented with hand-written notes but go directly online, enabling staff to pick up the notes electronically. No more scraps of paper with illegible writing!” Many departments are now digitally assigning work to students who can also submit their work online rather than submitting print-outs.”

Exam success
The percentage of students achieving A-C grades for GCSE Geography has significantly increased from 35 percent to 59 percent. Ben attributes much of this success to the fact that students can now revise anytime and anywhere. He comments: “Frog has proven to be instrumental in helping our students extend and enhance their exam revision. It has given them access to revision forums where students can ask teachers questions, teachers can upload useful revision material, such as BBC links, websites and videos, and teachers can see which students have accessed it – they can then prompt students who have not yet utilised the resources to do so.”

Engaging with the curriculum
“In geography, we have designed a template for every unit and populated it with resources, such as clips from BBC iplayer”, explains Ben, “We have uploaded self-marking quizzes for Year 7s to help teachers get a feel for their students’ knowledge of the subject, enabling them to tailor their teaching accordingly. An evaluation quiz at the end of a module also helps teachers understand what students did and didn’t like, which helps improve the course for the future.

“In media, we have created a blogging tool which is used as part of A Level coursework whereby students produce an online diary. This helps students develop their blog writing skills in a safe and secure environment, as Frog is hosted on the school’s server, rather
than letting them loose on the world wide web.

Ben recalls an open evening where Frog was used to showcase the use of technology within the Academy: “We gave students handheld video recorders to create a promotional-style video about the Academy. They conducted video interviews with staff about what their department was doing for open evening and once they had edited their clips they uploaded them onto Frog for parents, students and staff to see. It created such a buzz!”

Students at Ormiston Bushfield are also improving their web design skills using Frog, as Ben describes: “Our students are developing a good understanding of web design - a skill that will be useful to them in the workplace. They are learning best practice web techniques such as compressing video clips to make them suitable for the web, ensuring images fit on all screens, not just large screens, and ensuring images are low resolution for the web to make them easier and quicker to download.”

Social networking
Students use online forums and social networking tools through Frog. Ben comments: “Our students love the look and feel of Frog, they use it as they would Facebook and they get really engaged in debates on subjects such as Frog versus Facebook, which they prefer and which features they like.” The forums are helping to bridge gaps in the school: “It’s not just Year 7s talking to Year 7s – we now get a mix of students from different year groups talking to each other.” In future, the Academy plans to implement forums enabling Year 6 pupils from feeder primary schools to put their minds at rest by logging on and asking Year 7s questions about school life, such as what the first day at secondary school is like and other concerns about moving school.

Rewarding students through Frog
In the dinner hall every Friday, the Academy carries out an attendance draw whereby a student name is selected from the MIS – if that child has had 100 percent attendance that week, they are awarded a prize. The Academy plans to integrate this functionality into Frog so that the names can be selected through the learning platform and relevant students congratulated.

Parental engagement
Parents of students at Ormiston Bushfield now also have access to Frog. Ben comments: “Every good school needs good links with parents. At parents’ evenings, more and more parents come and speak to me about Frog and I assign a login for them. Instead of turning up to parents’ evening without knowing what to expect, parents can look up their child’s attendance and behaviour reports beforehand. We also send digital copies of letters home to parents through Frog, rather than risk print-outs lurking at the bottom of students’ school bags. Parents love keeping tabs on what is going on in school instead of waiting until it is too late.”

Remote access
Through Frog’s Secure Gateway, staff and students can remotely access school software from home, such as Flash and Adobe Photoshop, which might otherwise be too expensive for individuals to purchase. Staff can also access the MIS from home and therefore respond quickly to staff requests. Remote access is driven through the network by accessing a machine in the building, rather than opening up any secure data to the World Wide Web, which ensures the system is safe and secure. Ben comments: “The first thing students tend to do when they get home is go online, and typically they login into Frog as they would Facebook. One major advantage of Frog is that it provides a safe environment in which students can communicate with peers and study.”

Ideaspad
The Frog ‘Ideaspad’ allows schools to post ideas about what they think is the next big thing for Frog. Ben explains: “One of the best things about Frog is that they take on the challenge of delivering what we, the schools, think is important. For example, a request was posted for the Frog interface to be reduced in size to fit netbooks and other screens that are smaller than standard laptops. Academies voted on the comment and now it is being implemented, something which is important for us as a fair proportion of our current ICT estate is netbooks. The Frog team is always willing to chat to us about new ideas or issues, all we have to do is give them a call and they usually respond within half an hour.”

Advice to other Academies
Ormiston Bushfield trialled various learning platforms before choosing Frog. Ben enthuses: “We worked with Frog’s design team to come up with a design that we love the look of, rather than opting for an off-the-shelf product”. His advice to other Academies: “Involve staff and students in the design process so they develop a sense of ownership, and don’t view it just as a tool to use. Talk to other schools about their experiences and choose a learning platform that allows you to communicate with other schools to share best practice. Ask yourself: will I be part of a community?”

The future is wireless
Ben welcomes the future with open arms: “The new build is a big step for us which will see massive advances in technology and our investment in making it work. We will ensure every classroom is interactive and wireless and we will increase our provision of laptops. This is a perfect opportunity to make the changes we have always wanted to but couldn’t in our present building. We will communicate messages such as events and activities on big screens in the dinner hall and corridors, all through the learning platform. The possibilities with Frog are endless and we are confident that it will grow with us into the future as we achieve greater things.”

In the new build, there are plans to introduce a cashless catering system which we will link Parents to through Frog. This will mean parents can pre-pay for their child’s lunch and school trips in advance. The Academy also plans to create break-out zones which will include a locker area containing laptops, allowing students to work effectively in groups.

For further information about Frog please call 01422 250 800, email: hello@frogtrade.com or visit www.frogtrade.com.

About Frog

Frog is the leading learning platform provider and is currently used in more than 600 schools, across more than 90 UK Local AuthoritiesFrog inspires schools to get the most out of education by providing technology that creates ownership through creativity, and has been proven to raise standards in schools at both ends of the spectrum, those excelling, and those in special measures.Frog has recently announced its partnership with Malaysian company, YTL Education to spearhead Frog’s international strategy.Frog is a member of the British Education Supplier Association (BESA)

Finalist for 2011 BETT awards

Frog was named a finalist for two 2011 BETT Awards - Leadership and Management Solutions and ICT Service and Support. These prestigious awards are regarded to be the most highly esteemed in the industry, showcasing outstanding digital products that serve the education sector.

Winner of ERA Award 2009 – Best Supplier of the Year (£1 - £3million turnover)

Frog won Best Supplier of the Year at the Education Resource Awards 2009 for its innovative ways to boost learning. The Awards, organised by the trade association for the sector, BESA, are recognised as one of the highest accolades in the education industry.

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